One Night In Bangkok

There is a level of insanity associated with my travel these days. World Vision wants me to attend a meeting in Melbourne, and the cheapest flight routes thru Bangkok. So instead of doing a straight shot to Australia, I decided to spend a day and a night in Bangkok. To date, Asia and Australia qualify as two regions I have never visited, neither one has held much interest to be honest. Friends, lots of them, told me I would really love Bangkok.

And, as it turns out, I did really love it. It was AMAZING. It would be hard to pinpoint what I liked most: shopping at the Night Bazaar (shopping at a market at 10:30pm? Did I find heaven?), eating street food (which should be a no-no for me and my delicate stomach), images of Buddha (emerald ones, gold ones), temples (you know me, church, mosque, whatever, if it is religious, I have to see it), tuk tuk ride thru town (aka auto rickshaw from India – harrowing experience, but not as dangerous as India, Bangkok is much more orderly from a driving perspective).

I got up at 7:30am, and was out and about until 11pm. I did everything I could possibly do in 15 hours on the town. I bought far too much, I hit the weekend market as well as the night bazaar. Between the markets and the shopping malls (which are so numerous, and so large) you can buy literally anything. I tried not to buy too much, some wood carved souvenirs, entertaining t-shirts, a nice celadon piece for my home (whenever I buy one), and a single piece of art. I had to leave room for souvenirs from Australia.

Food . . . what can I say, I love Thai food. I went on the wild side, and ate anything that smelled good: soup for breakfast, crazy good thick rice noodles with chicken and spice for lunch, some weird fried food off the street as a snack, basil chicken for dinner, and some good local beers. Yes, beers. Can’t help myself.

The sights were great as well, the palace, the ornate temples, the people watching, the great outfits people wore. Walking around and seeing modern and traditional co-existing side by side. Riding the elevated trains, the taxis, the tuk tuks. The smells, the wonderful smells coming from everywhere. The cleanliness of the city also amazed me. I expected more chaos, more like India. Nothing like it at all. And I could get by on English, for the most part, English and hand gestures.

Would I go back? Yes, one night in Bangkok just isn’t enough.